Monster in the Woods
by jadefirefly3D
Summary: Dipper has always been fascinated by Bigfoot, but his desire to prove it exists might come at a terrible cost when Mabel goes missing, leaving troubling evidence behind. Dipper is determined to find his sister and the hunt for Bigfoot is on. But something dangerous lurks in Gravity Falls Forest, and in this case, the hunter just might become the hunted.
1. Footprints

A/N Hi! Thanks for clicking on my story! "Gravity Falls" sadly, is not mine, I write this for fun, not profit. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

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**Chapter One **

"OK, ready?" Dipper asked, bouncing slightly on his feet excitedly.

"I can totally see up your nose from this angle, gross!" Mabel laughed, making the most of the camera's optical zoom feature.

"_Mabel_!" Dipper whined, "This is important!"

Giggling Mabel zoomed back and turned the camera around so she was in the shot, "And over here," she whispered in the worst Auzzie accent possible motioning up towards Dipper who stood on a hill looking very annoyed, "we have the Dipperus Conspirious, a very rare species of mammal in its not so natural habitat, the Gravity Falls Forest, always diligent and alert as it hunts the rare and unusual prey that may or may not exist that allegedly dwell in these woods."

"Come on Mabel!" Dipper rolled his eyes, glancing down the steep slope behind him where he had discovered a strange set of footprints. "You can't honestly be playing the skeptic are you?"

"What could possess such a creature to waste its life looking for proof that such 'monsters'," on the word Mabel made a quotation sign with her free hand, "exist. Could it be that he doesn't have a life?"

"Cut it out Mabel, you saw those footprints, you know firsthand that there's crazy things in these woods! If you don't want to help me then go home!" Dipper huffed.

"Oh relax Mr. Grumpy pants!" Mabel shut the camera off, "I'm just adding that for dramatic effect!"

"We may have discovered real, actual evidence that Bigfoot exists, what more kind of drama do you need?"

"Do we even know those footprints belong to Bigfoot?"

"So you really don't think it's possible?"

"I'm not saying that Dipper. Of _course_ it's possible, likely even," Mabel sighed, "You know I'm always happy to help you with these videos of yours, and maybe it is Bigfoot, but would you really call a few footprints proof? I think your audience, if you even have one, would want more than that to go on."

"Some of these investigations take time and patience, but we have what I think is a solid lead," Dipper shrugged casually, "Who knows? Maybe this on this venture we'll be able to find more evidence!"

"Maybe," Mabel frowned.

"Come on, this is important to me!" Dipper reminded her.

Mabel grinned, turning the camera back on, "Well, what are we waiting for? Rolling in five, four, three…" she silently motioned two and one and Dipper got excited again.

"Welcome back to another episode of 'Dipper's Guide to the Unexplained'! So earlier today Mabel and I found these footprints in the woods!" Dipper waved Mabel to follow and she climbed the short hill to join him and then panned the camera down below towards the footprints along the path, "Could it really be Bigfoot?"

"Or some guy with really, really big feet?" Mabel chimed in happily.

Dipper rolled his eyes, "Let's see what we'll find as we check out Anomaly #33, 'The Mysterious Footprints!'"

"Really?" Mabel raised a brow, still focusing the camera on her brother, "That's the title? And where do you get these numbers from? I mean you've only got like what? Six videos so far?"

"Cut!" Dipper growled, "Mabel!"

"I mean, I guess it's all right, but seems kinda unoriginal…"

"You don't see me criticizing your projects and I certainly don't see you trying to come up with anything better!"

"You're right, I'm sorry I'll be quiet now," with her free hand Mabel made the motion of zipping her mouth closed, locking it and throwing away the key.

"Thank you," Dipper grinned, his eyes softening. "OK, rolling again in five, four, thee…" he waited two more seconds and then continued, "so here we have four, count 'em _four_ distinct footprints of an unusually large size," he reached into his backpack and pulled out a shoe, "for the sake of scale I present to you Soos's old work boot, size 13 notice how significantly smaller…"

They both startled at the sound of a branch snapping behind them. Mabel spun around to face the sound as Dipper ran up beside her as a low and strange sounding growl echoed through the trees, "Did you get that?" Dipper whispered excitedly looking around, following the sound, scanning the trees in hopes of seeing something. Suddenly the noise was behind them, moving impossibly fast, and Dipper and Mabel twirled around just in time to see a dark shadow disappear behind a tree, "There! There! Did you see it? Did you get it?"

"I think so!" Mabel exclaimed, moving the camera back and forth to scan the trees. The sound moved again and they followed it.

"In a crazy turn of events, it looks like we may just find whatever creature these footprints belong to," Dipper said half to the camera and half to the trees as he tried to seek out the source of the sound but as quickly as the sound came, it was gone. The twins stood breathlessly, looking around, hearts pounding for any sign of whatever made the sound but there was nothing.

When it felt like the coast was clear Dipper let out a whoosh of air, "Oh MAN! That was awesome! Did you get it?"

Laughing Mabel stopped recording and replayed the footage, "Got it!" she exclaimed and the two high-fived cheering excitedly as Dipper took the camera from her and played the footage once more, laughing when he saw the shaky and grainy image in the background of a mysterious shadow as it disappeared, moving so fast that had they not known where to look already, they might've missed it.

He played it again in slow motion and paused as the image hit the screen and frowned at how blurry it was, too out of focus to make out any features, but it was _something_! He gave Mabel a huge hug, "This is amazing!"

"I know!" she squealed, returning the hug before taking the camera back.

"Come on! Let's finish this!" Dipper exclaimed excitedly.

"Right!" she held the camera back up, "Aaaannnnd action!"

"So as you guys saw," Dipper narrated, "just moments ago a creature of unknown species appeared over there!" he pointed to where they saw it, "It circled around us, moving really fast, the sound first coming from through here," he pointed and Mabel followed with the camera and scanned the route the creature had made around them, "Let's go to where we saw it, and see if we can find anything…"

The twins finished gathering their footage for the video, and after a few takes with Mabel cutting in with her silly jokes, just to annoy Dipper who was now too excited to be legitimately annoyed, he decided they had enough.

"Well, I'm getting hungry, let's head back for lunch shall we?" Dipper grinned, rubbing his growling stomach.

"Right behind ya, bro!" Mabel exclaimed as Dipper grabbed his backpack with his supplies. He lead the way as Mabel followed, replaying some of the footage on the camera.

For all her teasing and appearances of skepticism, she was for the most part just as excited as Dipper about his film project and was genuinely happy when their attempts to get evidence of some of the craziness in Gravity Falls turned out to be a success. Besides, after getting kidnapped by Gnomes, fighting an army of Wax Statues, getting possessed by ghosts or chased by a monster made of loser candy, it would be too silly, even for Mabel, to be a _real_ skeptic.

"We got some good stuff here!" she said as she trudged along behind him.

"I know, right?" Dipper laughed.

As she walked behind her brother, watching the footage she went to the first video and played it and laughed, "You need to blow your nose brother," she held the camera for him to see the part where she zoomed in on his nose, "those boogers are huge!"

"Gross!" he groaned, subconsciously wiping his nose with the back of his hand.

"This is going on the Blooper Reel!" she declared.

"No! Erase it!" Dipper whined.

"I'll bet it'll go viral!"

"Delete it, delete it!" he begged petulantly, though he was also chuckling in the same breath.

"All right, all right!" she giggled, pressing the trash button on the camera. The menu gave her three options, to delete the one image, multiple images or to erase all images. She highlighted the first option but as she did so she tripped slightly on a root, not realizing that her thumb moved to highlight 'erase all' before hitting 'OK'.

"You OK, Klutz?" Dipper asked, amused as he saw her stumble.

She punched him playfully in the arm and put the camera away in its case, unaware of what she did. They walked back to the Shack in high spirits entering through the Gift Shop entrance where Wendy was sitting behind the counter reading a magazine and Soos was changing a lightbulb.

"Hey guys," Wendy said in greeting, not looking up.

"Hey dudes," Soos waved as he stepped down from the ladder, "How'd it go?"

"Better than expected!" Dipper exclaimed as Mabel handed him the camera, "Check it out!"

Soos stood behind Dipper to look over his shoulder as he turned the camera on.

"The footage we got was awesome and…" he frowned when the screen said 'Memory Card Empty', "wait, what? No, no, nononono!"

"What's wrong?" Mabel asked in alarm rushing up to him and looking over his other shoulder.

He immediately turned to her, "What did you do, Mabel? What did you _do_?!"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, genuinely confused by his sudden mood swing.

He thrust the camera in her face, "This Mabel! You erased everything!"

She looked at the blank screen with the 'Memory Card Empty' and paled, "Oops," she said quietly.

"Oops? Is that all you can say, is _OOPS!_"

"Woah, Dipper, calm down!" Wendy exclaimed.

"No, you don't understand! The footage we got…gone forever!"

"I'm sorry, I…I don't know how that happened I…" Mabel babbled, stopping when it dawned on her, "Oh my gosh! When I deleted that one video, I must've accidentally erased everything! Dipper, I am so, _so_ sorry!"

"How could you have let this happen?"

"It was an accident! Look we can go back and reshoot…"

"What's the point? Huh? We'll never get that kind of footage again!"

"What's the big deal?" Wendy asked, "I've seen your videos, you've got some cool videos about other things, so what if you didn't get this one?"

Dipper was too angry to care that it was Wendy who spoke, he still looked at Mabel when he replied angrily, "You don't understand, this is _Bigfoot_! One of the most famous and elusive modern mythical creatures! People have spent years, _years_ trying to get pictures, evidence, video of this thing, any proof of its existence and I finally get it and Mabel has to go and erase it!"

"There's still the footprints…" Mabel said weakly.

"Yeah well, like you said earlier, it's not enough. But what do you care anyway? You were never really into this!"

"I do care!" Mabel exclaimed, her eyes filling with tears.

Dipper sighed, "I gotta let this get charged." He yanked the camera from her hands. "How could you be so _stupid_?" Everyone gaped at him in shock as Mabel took a step back as though punched.

"It was an accident! Let me fix this! I'll fix it!"

"How?" he demanded, "It's too late Mabel!"

"Well then, let me make it up to you! What can I do?"

"Haven't you done enough?" Dipper asked coldly.

Mabel's lip quivered as tears began to fall down her face, she regarded a stunned looking Wendy and Soos and then ran back outside, brushing past Stan on the way out the door.

"Wow, she seems to be in a hurry," Stan quipped, shaking his sack filled with money after another profitable day scamming the tourists. He then noticed the shocked looks on Soos and Wendy's faces, and the angry look on Dipper's.

"Harsh, Dipper, harsh," Wendy shook her head in disapproval.

"That wasn't cool at all Dude," Soos folded his arms and turned away.

A part of him realized he was overreacting and that his anger was misplaced as it was obviously an accident, but the part of him so eager to get footage of Bigfoot was too pissed off and defeated to care. He looked at the camera and stormed out, heading upstairs to let it charge.

Still standing by the door holding his money Stan glanced at his employees in confusion, "Wait, did I miss something?"

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A/N Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think! Reviews are like gold. :-)

Also, just as a disclaimer, I'm taking some creative liberties with the show's canon. For example, despite mentioning the shorts "Dipper's Guide to the Unexplained" I'm not necessarily considering the actual shorts themselves canon (except maybe "Stan's Tattoo") because I don't want Dipper to have any actual solid proof of any supernatural happenings in Gravity Falls, at least not here. So if there are any inconsistencies with the show, it's either a legit oversight, or intentional but it's not enough to be considered full on AU either. I know it's a minor detail, but I wanted to get that out there.


	2. Take 2

A/N Here's chapter two! Enjoy! Please let me know what you think!

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**Chapter Two **

Dipper paced in his room miserably for a few minutes grumbling under his breath.

"How could she have been so careless?" he griped, because how hard was it to delete one video without emptying the entire memory card?

"Maybe if she hadn't been goofing off like she does then there would've been no video to delete!" Of course he was the one who told her to delete it, when he could've easily done it himself later. He knew this, just as he knew it was an accident and that Mabel would never, ever do anything to sabotage his video project on purpose. But that was a fact that meant very little to him in his anger and frustration.

"That footage was perfect! And now it's gone forever! It was Bigfoot, _Bigfoot_! Everyone is interested in proof of Bigfoot and I _had_ it! I friggin' had it!" Of course he ignored the little voice in his head that reminded him of how blurry and quick the image was, and that ultimately to an outside viewer, especially a skeptic, it could've been anything. Really they had nothing definitive, but Dipper didn't care because it was _something_. It was great footage, and now it was gone.

He sighed and sat on his bed, running his hands through his hair in defeat when a knock on the door startled him. "Go away Mabel," he grumbled, "I'm not in the mood!"

The door opened anyway and Dipper started to tell her to get lost but instead it was Stan, "Not Mabel and I don't really care about what kind of mood you're in. Soos and Wendy told me you kids are fighting."

Dipper shrugged, "Yeah. So? What are you here to tell me I was being too harsh too? You want me to apologize or something? Not happening, Grunkle Stan, she ruined everything!"

Stan shook his head, "Woah, woah, I wasn't there, I didn't see it happen so I'm really not in any position to take sides or nothing. Frankly I don't really care enough to get involved, you two will sort it out eventually as always so…"

"Then why are you here?" Dipper asked.

"Gotta head into town; run a few errands," Stan said, "wanna come? We can have lunch at Greasy's Diner."

Dipper raised a skeptical brow, "Really? What's the catch?"

Stan huffed in exasperation, "Why is it every time I try and do something nice, everyone thinks I'm up to something!? Is it so wrong for a guy to want to have a little one on one, man to man bonding time with his great nephew? You comin' or what?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Dipper sighed, glancing at his camera as it charged, "got nothing better to do anyway."

"Don't sound too enthusiastic now kid, I might start to think you're being sincere," Stan quipped, rolling his eyes.

"Sorry," Dipper frowned, "I'm just…" he sighed.

Stan's face softened, "Come on, I figure you might want to get away from here for a little while, get your mind off whatever's got ya angry."

"Thanks," he managed to smile, despite the anger and frustration seething under the surface. Maybe an afternoon in town with Grunkle Stan would be a good enough distraction to help him clear his head feel better.

Meanwhile Mabel sat at the base of the totem pole hugging her knees to her chest as Waddles sat beside her, munching lazily on the grass. "How could I have been so stupid?" she lamented absently wiping away a tear. Waddles snorted softly in response and she scratched his ear and continued, "I just can't believe I did that! I really didn't mean to. That footage meant so much to Dipper…"

She stiffened and went quiet when she heard footsteps behind her.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Hey Wendy," Mabel sighed, glad the voice belonged to her and not Dipper like she feared. She wasn't ready to face him and see the anger and disappointment in his eyes just yet.

"Here," Wendy said, "I brought you a sandwich, figured you might be hungry."

Mabel glanced in the direction of Wendy's voice and saw her holding out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a plastic sandwich bag. She took it gratefully and offered a small smile, "Thanks."

Wendy leaned casually against the totem pole but didn't sit. They stayed that way a moment before Wendy broke the silence, "Dipper was being a jerk!"

"Yeah but he was right though," Mabel said softly, "I mean, it's all my fault the footage is gone."

"So you made a mistake! Big deal!" Wendy scoffed, "Everybody makes mistakes! Doesn't give him the right to be so…so…nasty about it!"

"Well, this was important to him and I ruined it. I know he didn't mean to be so mean and call me…call me stupid," she cringed at the word, despite being an optimist and her normally sunny disposition Mabel could be really sensitive, and being called stupid was one of those things that really hit where it hurt. She knew Dipper didn't mean it though. Never. It was the anger talking, nothing more.

"I don't blame him for it, everyone says things they don't mean when they're mad," Mabel shrugged "As soon as he works through his anger he'll realize what he said and I know he'll feel really bad about it. I should've been more careful."

"So what was on there that was oh-so-important anyway?" Wendy asked, sitting down beside her, "You didn't really get Bigfoot on tape, did you?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure," she replied, "I mean the footprints are…well they're pretty cool, and then we got footage of…_something_, but it moved too quick to get a good look and it turned out kinda blurry on the camera, but I think it might've been."

"So really you had nothing but some footprints then," Wendy said.

"And whatever circled us, yeah," Mabel nodded.

"That doesn't sound like much proof to me," Wendy mused, "even if it were the real deal, I'll bet you no one would've believed it anyway."

"Probably not, but still…it meant a lot to Dipper…he's always been fascinated by Bigfoot and you should've seen his face, he was so happy and excited and I _ruined_ it," Mabel sighed, "I have to make it up to him. Where is he anyway?"

"Stan's taking him with him to town to run some errands," Wendy shrugged.

"They should be gone all afternoon, right?"

"I don't know, probably."

Mabel sighed miserably.

Wendy shivered as the wind rustled through the trees, "Well, I'm going back inside, you coming? I'm starting to get a little cold. Apparently it's supposed to rain today…"

"Wait, what?"

"It's supposed to rain today?"

"No! It can't rain today!" Mabel exclaimed, "It'll ruin the footprints! I know when Dipper's calmed down and thinking rationally again he'll want to retake the footage! But if it rains he won't be able to!"

Wendy glanced at the sky. Despite being a little colder than earlier it didn't look like rain, not yet anyway, "I'm sure if it does rain it won't be for a while yet."

"Then maybe there's still time!" Mabel exclaimed.

"Time for what?"

"To reshoot the footprints!" Mabel jumped to her feet excitedly, "I'm going to retake the pictures and video of the footprints we found! I may not be able to refilm the whatchamathingie that circled us earlier, but it's better than nothing!" She squealed in excitement, "Don't tell Dipper though, OK? I want it to be a surprise!"

Wendy shrugged with a grin, glad Mabel was feeling better, "All right, my lips are sealed!"

Mabel gave the older girl a hug, "Thanks Wendy!" She ran back to the Shack and to her room where the camera was charging. She frowned because it wasn't fully charged yet and sighed, munching on her sandwich as she waited to let it charge. After two minutes she checked again and blew a raspberry at it when it was still at 60% power.

"This is going to take for_ever_!" she whined as Waddled wandered in. She lay on her bed cuddling her pig, watching the sky as it became slightly overcast. "No, we don't have time to wait. There's enough battery power to do this and if it rains before I get there than all is lost!" She went to the closet and grabbed her purple raincoat and put it on and then the camera bag and camera slinging it over her shoulder, "You wanna come Waddles?"

The pig snorted in response and nodded his head. She squealed and scooped him in her arms, "Eek! You're the best pig ever! Who's the best pig? You are!" she cuddled him for a second before putting him down and led the way downstairs.

"Where you going, Hambone?" Soos asked as she cut through the gift shop to leave from that entrance.

"She's going to retake the footage she and Dipper got earlier," Wendy cut in.

"Yep! It's going to be awesome!" Mabel grinned, "It's a surprise, so if Dipper and Grunke Stan get back before I do, don't tell them where I went!"

"You got it, Dude!" Soos winked. "Oh and be careful out there. Supposed to rain later on."

"I will, and it'll be fine. It shouldn't take too long anyway. See ya later guys!" Mabel waved, "Come on Waddles, we've got a movie to make!"

-0-0-

A few hours later Dipper and Stan returned. The rain hadn't started falling yet, but the sky was beginning to turn a darker shade of grey.

The first thing Dipper did when they arrived at the Shack was run inside looking for Mabel to apologize for overreacting now that he had a chance to cool off. It was after all an accident, and he said some nasty things. He knew better than anyone how much it hurt Mabel to be called stupid, especially since he always got better grades than her and her silliness often made people assume she wasn't smart. But Mabel was a lot smarter than people gave her credit for, and he felt terrible for saying what he did. Sure, he was angry, but it didn't give him the right to speak that way. Besides, while it wouldn't be the same, they could always go back—so long as it didn't rain.

"Hey guys, where's Mabel?" he asked as he and Stan entered the gift shop.

Keeping their promise to Mabel, Wendy and Soos both shrugged, non-committal, not giving him much of an answer.

Dipper frowned, figuring they were mad at him for freaking out earlier so he headed upstairs to their room. She wasn't there but as soon as he saw the camera missing, he put two and two together and grinned. "I should've known you'd try to fix everything…" he said quietly shaking his head with a smile before he rushed downstairs again with the intent of joining her.

"Where are you going?" Wendy asked as he ran past her in the gift shop.

"To join Mabel and help her reshoot the video!" Dipper exclaimed, "That is what she's doing, right?"

"I'm not at liberty to say," Wendy returned with feigned inconspicuousness.

"My camera's gone, so it's obvious that's where she went," Dipper rolled his eyes, "good thing too, if it starts to rain the footprints would be gone."

"Look, you shouldn't go," Wendy sighed as Dipper started out the door, "She wants to surprise you, OK?"

Dipper stopped in his tracks and frowned, "Yeah, OK."

"Besides, she's probably on her way back by now," Wendy shrugged, "she's been gone a few hours now so…anyway try and act surprised."

"I will," Dipper nodded, "Oh and Wendy, sorry about overreacting like a jerk earlier."

Wendy shrugged nonchalantly, but there was a slight edge to her voice when she said, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

"I know, but still…sorry you had to see that."

"I get it, you were mad, and I guess I would be too in your position," Wendy replied, softening, "besides, people say all sorts of stupid stuff when they're angry, it's cool."

"Thanks," Dipper gave a small smile and glanced outside towards the forest and the path he and Mabel had taken earlier. He wanted to join her, not only to apologize for calling her stupid, but also because this particular find really was important to him, more so than the others. Bigfoot was one of those legends that always fascinated him and it was the one video he really wanted to make.

When he was little he wrote a short story about Bigfoot. He wrote it for class in second grade about him finding Bigfoot and getting famous for proving Bigfoot was real and then in the story they became friends and travelled the country together making a fortune working at carnivals where they ate nothing but corn dogs and cotton candy. It was a dumb story but it earned him a good mark.

He read all sorts of stories and watched tons of stuff on TV on the subject and secretly always dreamt of finding proof someday. That was why he was so angry, and it was also why he wanted to be there to reshoot the footage.

He sighed, watching the window waiting for Mabel to return just as the rain began to lightly fall. Any minute now she would appear through the trees, seeking shelter from the rain excited to show him what she filmed.

Any minute now…

"How long did you say Mabel was gone?" Dipper asked.

Wendy shrugged, "A few hours, why?"

"Seems like a long time…"

"Probably taking her time," she chuckled, "looks like she got herself caught in the rain. Hope your camera's waterproof man."

Dipper frowned because he wasn't sure, but it wasn't raining very hard, barely a light drizzle so far, so it was probably fine… but he couldn't shake the feeling all of a sudden that something was wrong. But now that it was starting to rain Mabel was obviously on her way back. Soon she'd appear…

Any minute now…

Any minute…

The bad feeling in his gut grew stronger…but it was fine.

Any minute now…

He perked up at the sight of movement in the trees. _ Ahh, there she is! _He thought when he saw Waddles running towards the Shack as fast as he could…_waddle_. Mabel of course was probably right behind him…but she didn't appear.

_Where is she? Something's wrong…_

Without thinking Dipper pushed the door open and headed outside, ignoring Wendy's voice as she called for him to come back. He ran towards Waddles and could see something colorful in his mouth. Something bright pink…

Waddles made a squealing noise of distress and Dipper ran faster until he caught up with the pig. He took the bright pink object from his mouth and pet the pig behind his ears to calm him down as Dipper's own heart began to race and panic started to consume him.

It was a torn piece of Mabel's sweater and it was covered in blood.

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A/N Thanks for reading! Please review! I would love to hear from you! :-)


	3. The Search

A/N Thanks so much to gravityfall456, GravityFallsMD and awesomenesshasar for the comments! It means a lot to me! Hope you enjoy the next chapter!

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**Chapter Three**

Wendy watched Dipper leave in a rush, ignoring her calls telling him to wait. She rolled her eyes, and leaned back folding her arms, still a little irked at how he had spoken to Mabel earlier. It certainly wasn't her business, and clearly the twins' conflict was almost resolved, but something about their fight struck a nerve. It was probably because she had been in Mabel's shoes before when Wendy was still dating Robbie. He had his sweet moments, but when he was angry he could say some nasty things.

She glanced out the window with mild curiosity and frowned in confusion when what she saw didn't match what she had expected to see. She saw Dipper and Waddles, but no Mabel and then suddenly Dipper and Waddles started to run back towards the forest.

Wendy jumped up in alarm, the little scene setting off red flags. She ran out the door, "Dipper!" she called, "What's going on?"

But Dipper kept running, either he didn't hear her, or ignored her but a flash of pink against the green grass caught Wendy's eye and she jogged towards it, stopping when she realized what it was. She gasped, looking up as Dipper disappeared through the trees. She started to run after him but stopped, grabbed the bloody piece of Mabel's sweater and ran back into the gift shop, "Stan! Soos! Something's wrong!"

Meanwhile Dipper ran without thought, following Mabel's beloved pet pig into the forest instinctively knowing where to go. He thought he might've heard Wendy calling after him but it didn't matter. All that mattered was finding Mabel. Something was wrong, something happened to her and she needed his help.

A million scenarios played through his head about what might've happened to Mabel that put Waddles in such a state of panic. Did she fall and hurt herself? Did the creature that circled them earlier come back and attack? Was it something else entirely?

When he reached the sight of the footprints Dipper stopped, panting for breath, his heart leaping in his chest at the sight. The footprints were ruined, but not by rain, it wasn't raining hard enough yet for that. There was obvious signs of a struggle as there were more large but undefined footprints, a broken tree branch and a rock with blood on it. There was more blood splattered on the ground and on the camera that was lying on its side on the ground, the camera case was still there and it was torn and Mabel was nowhere to be seen.

"Mabel!" he called out, looking around frantically, "Mabel!"

He grabbed his camera and saw the battery had died. He put it in the inside pocket of his vest next to his journal for safekeeping and looked to Waddles, "Do you know where she went?" he asked, even though he doubted the pig would know what he was asking. Mabel believed Waddles could understand her, but Dipper didn't think so.

To his surprise though Waddles squealed and started down a path and Dipper followed, calling his sister's name. Dipper wasn't much of a tracker and the ground was too littered with mulch, twigs and leaves to make out any footprints or anything, but so far the only one who knew which way to go was Waddles so he followed until the pig stopped and sniffed at the ground. After a moment Dipper realized that Waddles didn't know where to go from there.

"Mabel!" he cried, "Please! Mabel!"

There was no answer though as he was met only with the sound of the wind rustling through the trees. He looked around trying to figure out where to go next. There was no visible clue, no new tracks to follow, nothing. Waddles sniffed around in circles like a bloodhound and Dipper felt a fondness for the pig he never felt before. He liked Waddles OK, he was surprisingly clean and well behaved, but he only really cared about Waddles because Mabel loved him so much. Dipper's attitude was that pigs were meant to be food, not pets, but if Waddles could find Mabel, he would never eat pork or bacon again.

"Good boy, Waddles!" he smiled weakly, watching with bated breath as Waddles sniffed at the ground.

Finally Waddles started down a path and Dipper followed, having no choice but to trust that Mabel's beloved pet knew what he was doing. Soon enough he found another clue, Mabel's headband. It was also stained with blood. Feeling a new rush of adrenaline he quickened his pace, following the trail, barely noticing as the rain started to pick up from a light drizzle to a steady rainfall as a low rumble of thunder rolled in the distance.

"Mabel!" he called out again as he stumbled over a root and fell to his knees and landing hard. "Mabel where are you?"

He perked up when he heard a voice calling him, his heart pounding with hope.

"Dipper!"

"Mabel?" he called out hopefully.

"Dipper where are you?"

It was Wendy's voice. He never thought he would ever be disappointed to hear Wendy's voice of all people. Hope shattered he felt as though he could cry. He climbed to his feet and answered, "Over here!"

They shouted at each other each moving towards the sound of the other's voice until she caught up to him. Soos was with her holding up an umbrella.

Wendy threw her arms around Dipper who, despite his worry for Mabel, couldn't help but feel a little nervous and excited to be so close to his crush but then reality came back with a whoosh and he only had one question on his mind.

"Did you find her?"

Wendy shook her head, "No. But I saw the torn sweater with the blood, Stan's going to stay at the Shack in case she comes back."

Dipper nodded, he felt his lip quivering with fear and worry because he doubted Mabel was even in the position to be able to return to the Shack. The blood on her sweater and the chaotic mess at the site of the footprints made it very clear that something bad happened and she got hurt. Possibly taken by someone or some_thing_…or…or worse…

"You're shaking," Wendy exclaimed, rubbing his shoulders for warmth as Soos handed him a spare umbrella. He barely noticed he was cold although the weather wasn't why he was trembling. "And you're bleeding!" she added, gesturing to his knees.

"I think I might've t-tripped," he murmured, looking dumbly at the scrapes on his knees. His left knee where he went down the hardest was bleeding more than it should but he had barely noticed he hurt them until she pointed it out.

"Dude, you OK?" Soos asked quietly.

"No, my sister is missing and hurt…" Dipper replied, "Of course I'm not OK."

"We'll find her," Wendy assured him, her tone hopeful, "Maybe we're worried for nothing and she fell or something. She might even be on her way back by now." She took the umbrella back from Dipper who was staring at it like he didn't know what to do with it and opened it, holding it over them both.

"You saw the blood on her sweater, did you s-see the f-footprints wh-where…?"

Wendy and Soos shook their heads, "We don't know where they are."

"Well, I did and I think something took her," Dipper felt numb, "there was signs of a struggle…and more blood. Th-the camera was still there but the batteries are dead so I… I don't know what's on it but…" He looked at the purple headband crumpled in his hand, "Found this too."

"Where?" Soos asked as Wendy paled at the sight of the blood stains.

Dipper pointed, "Over there."

The three of them made their way down the path, Dipper leading the way as Wendy tried to keep up with him with the umbrella and Soos following close behind. Waddles had stayed where Dipper found the headband, and it was like he was waiting for them because when he saw them coming he continued to run down the path.

"Do you think Waddles knows where she went?" Wendy asked.

Dipper shrugged, "He hasn't been wrong so far, besides he's the only lead we got."

They followed Waddles down the path as the rain really started to come down as lightning and thunder in the distance warned that a summer storm was getting closer and closer. Dipper stumbled a couple of times, as he began to run with a more pronounced limp the further he ran, but Wendy stayed by him and held him steady.

They reached another clearing and Waddles stopped and squealed in distress and walked in circles making it clear that he had lost the trail. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled five seconds later and Soos put his hand on Dipper's shoulder, "We need to get back, dudes."

"No!" Dipper snapped, "Not until we find Mabel!"

"Look, I don't want to stop either but with this storm…and your knee is really starting to look bad, dude, you need to get it looked at," Soos pointed to Dipper's knees and while the right one looked merely raw and a little bruised, the left one was still bleeding. Even thinned out by the rain the blood was leaving thick dark streaks down his leg.

"What about Mabel?" Dipper cried, "We can't leave her out here in this, hurt and alone! We have to find her!"

"And we will…" Soos told him. He sighed, "Wendy, help Dipper get to the Shack, fix 'em up, OK? I'll keep looking. I've got the two way radio, if I find anything, anything at all I'll radio Stan, OK?"

"Come on," Wendy said quietly, starting to lead Dipper back from where they came.

"No! I'm not leaving her!" Dipper pulled away from Wendy, and looked around desperately for another clue, anything. But through the rain dripping from the brim of his hat and the fading light of day that strained to make it through the clouds and the trees, it was hard to see much besides the various trails that stemmed from the clearing.

"Dude, you're hurt and you don't even have a jacket…"

"I'm fine…"

"It'll do Mabel no good if you make yourself sick looking for her," Soos argued, "I will keep searching, and maybe you can see what's on the camera there, maybe there's some more clues."

Dipper's hand went to the camera in his vest pocket and he sighed deeply before he reluctantly nodded. It was getting harder and harder to ignore how much his knees were throbbing, and the rain was soaking though his clothes, even with Wendy's futile attempts to keep them both sheltered under the umbrella. "OK, but if you find anything Soos…"

"You'll be the first to know, dude," Soos put his fingers to his forehead in a salute, "scouts honor."

Dipper bit his lip to keep from crying and Soos pulled him into a big bear hug, "Please find her," he whispered brokenly, "And be careful OK? I don't want anything happening to you too."

"Don't worry 'bout me, dude," Soos smiled wanly, "and I promise I'll do everything in my power to find Mabel and get her back safe."

"Thanks," Dipper replied grateful for both his and Wendy's help. Soos might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but when it mattered the most, he always managed to come through.

Reluctantly Dipper let Wendy help him return to the Shack while Soos and Waddles remained in the forest to keep looking. By the time they reached the Shack, it was a full blown thunderstorm and Stan was waiting on the porch for them.

Both Wendy and Dipper were waterlogged and shivering despite the umbrella they shared, and Stan was ready with some towels. "Soos radioed me and told me you were coming," Stan said, he then motioned to Dipper's bloody knee, "that looks nasty!"

"It's fine," Dipper lied, even though it throbbed painfully in time with his heartbeat. There was only one thing on his mind, "Did he find her yet?"

"No, but you know Soos, he's not gonna give up until he does," Stan told him, wrapping the towel around him and drying him off when Dipper made no move to get himself dry.

"I'll get the first aid kit," Wendy offered quietly, leaving them alone.

"I hope wherever she is, that she's found shelter," Dipper mused absently, hating the thought of her being hurt, lost and alone in the storm.

"I'm sure she did, kiddo," Stan's voice was surprisingly gentle coming from him as he continued to dry the boy with the towel and lifted him to sit on the table for better access to his torn knee. Dipper gave him a sharp look of surprise. "What? She's a smart girl."

Dipper opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind and instead grabbed his camera from his vest. It was damp and a little banged up, but he hoped it still worked. "Whatever happened to Mabel, I think we might have it on tape," Dipper said breathlessly, a little terrified to look at Mabel's footage. "The battery is dead though so I need to get my charger…"

"I'll get it," Stan said as Wendy came in with the first aid kit, a cloth and a bowl of water. "Wendy, look after him, will you?"

"Of course," Wendy gave Dipper a small smile and Dipper's breath hitched at the look in her eyes. It was a look of kindness and concern, but also pity.

"Where is it?" Stan asked.

"Plugged into the outlet by my bed," Dipper replied, not looking away from Wendy who looked so beautiful with her damp red hair clinging to her body and slight flush to her freckled and fair cheeks. He immediately felt guilty for being so enamoured by her hotness when Mabel was missing, but he couldn't help himself. He looked away feeling his eyes water as another heavier guilt began to press on his mind more forcibly, drowning out everything else. His lip trembled and he bit it to keep from crying.

"Dipper? You OK?" Wendy asked, putting her hand on his shoulder in comfort.

"Th-this is all my fault," Dipper whispered.

"Don't say that."

"But it's true. I'm the reason she went back," Dipper murmured.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it's your fault that she's missing," Wendy retorted weakly, gently dabbing at his knee with a warm washcloth.

"Yes, it does," Dipper's voice broke, "Something happened at the site of the footprints, something bad, OK? If it wasn't for me she wouldn't have gone back. When we were there earlier the creature, Bigfoot I guess, circled us and ran off… I…I didn't even consider the danger…"

Wendy gave him a look that was slightly skeptical, "Are you sure it was Bigfoot?"

"Yes! I don't know… it doesn't matter what it was… whatever it was though…it must've come back and did something to Mabel…" he choked out his sister's name, "and she wouldn't have been there if it weren't for me."

"Going back was her choice, man," Wendy said softly as she cleaned the blood away from his knee, hissing slightly at the sight of the wound, "Don't blame yourself. Mabel didn't blame you, and I know she wouldn't want you to feel guilty over this."

"I…I never even got the chance to apologize for calling her stupid…"

"Yeah well, trust me, she forgives you," Wendy grabbed the peroxide and poured it on a sterile pad, "this is going to sting…"

"I know she does because that's Mabel for you. But it doesn't matter," Dipper hissed, clutching the table with a white-knuckle grip as Wendy cleaned his knee, "I still need to tell her…I never should have said that. I crossed the line. I need her to hear me say it, because I am so, so sorry!"

"You'll get that chance," Wendy said hopefully, "because Soos is going to find her and everything will be fine."

"You don't know that! What if…what if it's too late?"

Stan returned with the camera's power cord and plugged it into the wall as Wendy finished patching up the deep gash in Dipper's knee. She quickly cleaned up and joined them as Dipper plugged in his camera and turned it on, hoping it still worked. It took a minute but he was able to turn it on and saw that there were three videos on the memory card. He went to the last video and with Wendy and Stan looking over his shoulder at the small screen he took a deep, shaky breath and hit play.

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A/N As always, thanks for reading and I would love to hear what you think! Reviews feed the muse!


	4. Found Footage

A/N Hey everyone! This chapter didn't quite turn out the way I planned, but I hope y'all enjoy it! I have a love/hate relationship with the found footage genre of movies (interesting concept that sometimes works well on a tight budget, but can rarely hold a film and still be believable) and that's one of the inspirations for this story, even though the 'found footage' aspect, which is coming up in this chapter is very small.

Thanks to all those who have read/favourited/followed this story and especially thanks to my lovely reviewers!

Annibelli- glad to hear this is your new favorite! I hope I don't disappoint and spoilers! Your theory is totally right as you will see this chapter!

CCturtle- thanks for the comment, I'm glad you like the storyline so far.

gravityfalls456- here's another shout out! Thanks for the reviews and I'm glad you're enjoying this so far!

awesomenesshasar- thanks for the reviews! What's he going to find? Well, stay tuned and find out!

Without further ado, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Four **

"OK," Mabel's voice came out as a whisper and the screen showed Waddles squealing nervously, huddled by Mabel's feet, "so a moment ago there was a noise…Dipper, I think it's back." She sounded excited.

The image on the camera moved to scan around the trees. There was a noise and the camera whirled around, "There!"

Dipper had to squint but there was a quick flash of movement that had his heart ache. It should've excited him, but since he knew that whatever was about to happen wasn't going to be pretty for Mabel, his gut twisted in fear.

"I think I got it!" Mabel giggled excitedly, as the noise travelled and she quickly followed it, getting another quick, barely visible image of a large, dark…thing. The noise moved around her and she spun to follow it, but the sound faded away. "Wow! I think that's better footage than last time, Dipper!"

The camera turned around until Mabel's face was in the shot. "So there it was! I was about ready to pack up and head home before it rains when it came back! Maybe it was your Bigfoot, Dipper! Wouldn't that be awesome? I can't really tell from where I am it moved too fast, but I think I got it! I'm going to go check it out where it just was, see if there's any more evidence…"

From the angle Mabel had been holding the camera, only part of her face was visible, and in the top corner they could see the trees behind her. "Dipper," she said, "I know you wanted to be part of this video, but I hope that you like what I got."

Dipper leaned forward, his breath quickening in fear and anticipation when a shadow appeared behind her. There wasn't enough of it in the shot to make out any detail, just enough to know _something_ was behind her. She turned the camera around, catching only the briefest glimpse of a large dark figure and Dipper felt Stan squeeze his shoulder as he and Wendy both grew tense.

The image wobbled as Mabel started to walk forward, but she stopped when Waddles started to panic.

"Waddles?" Mabel asked, the camera lowering to show the pig in distress, backing away from her his eyes fixed on that something behind her, "Waddles, what's wrong?"

The image lowered and turned slightly until it focused on the ground, like she forgot it was still recording, "What?" she started to say but her question turned into a scream that had all three people in her audience startling. Suddenly the image shook until it turned sideways as Mabel clearly dropped it on the ground. All they could see was a few blades of grass distort the view of Waddles squealing and skittishly pacing as though he didn't know where to go or what to do until he was out of the shot completely and they could only see a sideways view of the trees.

They couldn't see anything, but they heard a fierce growl and Mabel's screams. The image on the camera shook slightly and Mabel's hand blocked the view for a moment as they saw her shuffling clumsily away. She reached for something out of the frame and staggered to her feet, disappearing from view again with a yell.

They could hear her and the creature, and it was clear she was putting up a fight. "Back off!" she yelled as the creature made a noise that sounded both animal and almost human, and to Dipper's satisfaction, it sounded like it was in pain. But Dipper tensed when she too made a pained sound and ran back into the frame, like she was trying to run away but she stopped abruptly as something just off screen blocked her path.

There was blood soaking through the arm of her pink sweater and she was holding a broken tree branch as a weapon. She held up the branch defensively, "Stay away from me!" she snapped as she started to run away, towards the camera but she barely got two steps in when she was suddenly on the ground, falling with a hard thump that knocked the wind out of her. She viciously kicked at something off screen until she was violently pulled out of view.

"Let me go!" she yelled, and they could hear Waddles getting into the melee. Suddenly Waddles let out a pained squeal, "Waddles!" Mabel cried, still off screen, "Leave him alone you big jerk!" They could hear her struggle and the creature growl, and a thump and they guessed that the sound was Mabel getting away. But then they heard her scream in pain, and then the sound cut off abruptly and she fell partially into the frame, her body limp and her eyes closed with blood dripping down the side of her face. She was either unconscious or…or…

"No!" Dipper closed his eyes, shaking his head in denial, not wanting to consider any other possibility.

Wendy's hands went to her mouth as her jaw dropped in shock and she had to look away while Stan's grip on Dipper's shoulder got tighter and he pulled the boy closer to him as Mabel's limp body was slowly pulled out of the shot. Waddles ran across the frame, squealing in distress and then there was nothing but the sound of the wind rustling through the trees as the first of the raindrops began to fall.

"No!" Dipper screamed into the camera, shaking it as though it could help change the outcome. "Mabel!" he cried as Stan gently took the camera from him and turned it off, a grim look on his face, as Wendy wrapped her arms around him and held him as he let go and began to cry into her shoulder.

Stan looked pale and angry as he began to walk away, "Where are you going?" Wendy asked, her voice strained with emotion as her green eyes welled with unshed tears.

"Calling Sheriff Blubs," he said, "and then radioing Soos to come back…"

"No!" Dipper sobbed, "You can't call off the search! She needs us to find her!"

"Not calling off the search, kid,"Grunkle Stan sounded determined, "just calling in reinforcements. We're going to find Mabel and bring her home safely even if it means turning the entire forest upside down to find her, and we're going to find whatever did this and we're going to hunt it down and kill it."

0-0

Later that night Stan tucked Dipper into bed. It was the first time he did something like that. He wasn't much of a caretaker, he never had kids and really didn't know what to do with them which was what he had told the twins' parents when they called and said they were going to live with him for the summer. They were twelve and didn't need him to coddle them, so he was content to let them take care of themselves and only step in if he felt like he needed to and for the most part they were fine. As long as they helped out with the Shack, they could do what they wanted. They were good kids and he had grown quite fond of them over the past several weeks.

He sighed sadly, not knowing what to tell their parents, a task he had been putting off. He wasn't kidding when he said he'd turn the forest upside down if that's what it took to find Mabel, but after seeing the footage of her being attacked, he feared that the most they'll find now is a body.

But he wouldn't say that to Dipper. The kid was certain his twin was alive and he would indulge in that hope, because it was still possible he was right, even if the odds were against her survival. They all needed to hold on to the hope that she'll still be found alive. After all, hope was the only thing that helped him get through the last thirty years after…. Heck, Mabel was tougher than she looked, maybe she'll fight her way back to them.

"I'm not tired," Dipper frowned as he protested his bedtime even though it was almost two in the morning and he was struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Sure, if you say so," Stan rolled his eyes, "You're still going to bed."

"I should be out there looking for her!"

"Look kid, you're exhausted, you need the rest," Stan sighed, "if we hear anything, I'll let you know straight away, I promise. You won't do Mabel much good if you're dead on your feet."

Dipper tensed at his words and Stan inwardly cringed at his poor choice of words. The 'd' word was already on everyone's minds, though no one would say it because the last image of Mabel on the camera…well she looked like maybe she was already…Though the hope was that she was merely unconscious, and Stan knew that was what everyone chose to believe even without anyone saying it, there was still that other very real possibility that they couldn't ignore for long.

"Can I…I get you anything?" Stan asked.

He shook his head, his eyes lowered. "You already know what I want."

"They'll find her."

Dipper took a deep breath, "Yeah."

He didn't sound convinced.

"I know Sheriff Blubs can be an idiot," Stan said, knowing that Dipper wasn't happy that Stan put his trust in him to find Mabel, and he couldn't blame him because he and his Deputy _were_ idiots, "but they have better resources than we do, now because of them we have the State Police on the case as well. We're not going to stop, and we're not going to give up until we find her."

"And put an end to that thing that hurt her," Dipper added determinedly.

"That's right," Stan nodded.

Dipper glanced out the triangle shaped window, as the rain splattered against it. The storm had passed by now, leaving a dreary and cool rain in its wake and he bit his lip, hoping that wherever Mabel was that she was dry and warm and most of all, safe. He looked to her side of the room and took a shaky breath, fighting back the urge to cry.

"Do you want to sleep somewhere else tonight?" Stan asked, following his line of sight at the bright and girly décor and the profoundly empty bed, "The spare room maybe?"

"No," he replied quietly, "I'm OK here."

Stan gave him an affectionate pat on the head, "Well, if that's what you want. Let me know if you need anything."

Dipper looked at him strangely and rested his head against his pillow, "Sure."

"Night, kiddo."

"Night."

Dipper closed his eyes and rolled over, listening as Stan turned the light off and closed the door as he left. He heaved a shaky sigh, his heart heavy as he realized that Grunkle Stan didn't believe that Mabel was even still alive.

It was because Grunkle Stan was being nice to him, too nice. It wasn't that Stan was usually mean, because he wasn't. A little rough around the edges maybe, but not mean. It was just that normally Grunkle Stan loved to show him tough love, give him a hard time to toughen him up. But ever since Mabel went missing, and especially since they watched the video, Grunkle Stan was treating him as though the slightest thing was going to make him break. Treading carefully, showing affection by taking care of him and tucking him in…it made him realize that the whole 'we'll find her' speech was just Stan humoring him, and Dipper didn't know how to feel about that.

He sat up and reached for his camera. It should have been taken away as evidence, and probably would have been if the police in Gravity Falls were actually competent. The fact it wasn't only confirmed that he had no reason to trust Sheriff Blubs and his idiotic Deputy with the job of finding his sister. But it was a mixed blessing as he didn't want to lose the only major clue to Mabel's whereabouts.

Dipper sniffed, wiping the moisture in his eyes and turned the camera on. So far all anyone had seen was the third video as it was the only piece of footage that _would_ have any major clues as the other two were most likely uneventful retakes Mabel took of the footprints.

He went to the first video and pressed play, a tear leaving a wet trail down his cheek as Mabel's voice called his name.

"Hey Dipper!" she said as she held the camera out in front of her so she was in the shot, and the image wobbled as she was clearly walking as she was speaking. "So um…yeah….I'm just on my way back to the footprints right now. Wendy said it's supposed to rain later so I figure I should go now before they get ruined. Even if it can't be like before, I know you're going to want them and I know that out of all your 'Unexplained' videos, _this_ is the one that meant the most to you, and that you wanted to be a part of it but I'm just afraid that if I wait then it would be too late, you know? But hey! Maybe we'll get lucky and it _won't_ rain and we can still go back later. In the meantime uh…surprise!? It might not be what you were hoping for, but hopefully whatever I get will be OK."

For a few second there was nothing but the sound of footsteps and Mabel's breath as she walked. She stopped and set the camera down on something and stepped away from it, sitting down on a fallen log, her expression serious as she absently fumbled with the zipper pull of her purple raincoat.

"Look, Dipper I'm really sorry for what happened, OK?"

"I know," Dipper replied, wiping away the tears that now fell freely down his face as he watched the tiny screen.

"You gotta know it was an accident and that I would _never_ do anything to sabotage your video," her serious expression shifted into a sly grin, "at least nothing that you couldn't edit out and fix later…" Dipper couldn't help but chuckle sadly at that, thinking back to all the silly things she did every time they made a video together, it was just so typical of Mabel to do that and watching her made the pain of her absence physically hurt. If he just allowed her crazy antics and rolled his eyes at her and let it go, then this wouldn't have happened. He would've kept the video he told her to delete and she wouldn't have accidentally erased everything, he wouldn't have called her stupid and she would've had no reason to go back and…

"I'm sorry Mabel, I'm so sorry!" he cried to her image on the tiny screen.

Her face went serious again and her eyes slid to the side, no longer looking at the camera but instead going distant as she sat in thought for a moment before speaking, "I'm so sorry for what I did, I was being careless, I wasn't paying attention and I screwed everything up…you were right to call me stupid. It _was_ stupid of me…"

"No! You made an honest mistake, _I'm _sorry!"

She sat up straighter and cleared her throat, facing the camera again as she reached down to pet Waddles who settled down at her feet, "I know you didn't mean what you said, and knowing you you're probably beating yourself up for it right now as I make this video. And it's OK…well, by the time you see this we'll have already had this conversation but…yeah…it's all good. I just hope that you forgive me too. Well uh… I hope you'll like the footage I'm gonna get. Maybe if you don't like it well, you can always dub over with your own narration," she perked up and grinned widely at that as the realization hit her, "OK! Yay! This is going to work out, trust me Dipper! This is going to be awesome!" she paused and thought a moment, "I hope…" she giggled, "Nah, it will! It's going to be great! Just wait and see!"

She jumped up excitedly and skipped back to the camera, holding it up to her face, "OK, that's it for now! Mabel out!"

The image stopped and Dipper wiped at his eyes as he cried, glancing over to her side of the room and his heart was filled with an indescribable emptiness that hurt so much. He put his camera away, and rolled over so he wouldn't have to see the mockingly bright and girly decorations that screamed _Mabel_.

Dipper cried himself to sleep as he silently vowed to do whatever it took to find her.

* * *

A/N Dipper in his worried and exhausted state missed a relatively big clue in the videos, did you catch it?

Thanks for reading, now please let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you, good or bad.


	5. Dark Prison

A/N Wow! Thanks everyone for the reviews! They mean a lot to me!

Scarlet Scribe, thanks for reviewing every chapter, not a lot of people do it when they come into a story after multiple chapters had been posted, but it's so awesome when it happens. I'm glad that you like it so far!

Matt, the clue is a subtle one, but it has to do with something that appears in one video but then disappears and is still unaccounted for.

Snowcat1378, glad you seem to like this so far!

Annibelli, Aw, thanks! That's such a huge compliment, I'm really glad you're enjoying this and I hope you'll stick with me! :-)

Guest, thanks for the huge compliment! It means a lot to be true to the show, and it's an awesome show with great characters and it's important to me to get them right, so thanks a bunch! Though this will get a little darker than the show is allowed to go, I hope I can still maintain the integrity of the show.

awesomenesshasar, Glad it was intense! That was what I was going for so I'm glad it worked! ^_^ The clue that Dipper missed will come into play soon. Thanks for the review!

Unknown, aw, I don't want people to cry...though in this case I guess it is a good thing! Thanks for the lovely review! Makes me happy!

I'm a little worried about including this chapter, as it is darker than the rest of my story (in more ways than one) and borders more on horror, but I hope it works out anyway.

Well, enough babbling, here's the next chapter! Enjoy?

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**Chapter Five**

Consciousness returned in stages, slowly at first and then all at once. The first thing Mabel was aware of before anything else was that she hurt, everywhere. It was intense yet undefined at first, but then she became aware of her arm, throbbing in time with her heartbeat, burning like it was on fire and her head was pounding at her temples in a steady rhythm as strange sounds around her rattled painfully in her head. Nausea rumbled in her stomach and just as she wondered why she was hurting so much she became aware of something else. She couldn't move. Something was binding her in place, her arms stretched above her head, wrists tied together, her feet barely touching the ground…

That realization was what finally startled her awake and she opened her eyes with a panicked gasp and she became aware of something else. _ I can't see! Why can't I see? Have I gone blind?_

The disorienting darkness surrounding her combined with the cacophony of sounds echoing around her and the memory of the attack put her into a pure state of panic as she struggled at her binds, her breaths coming out in short quick gasps until she was on the verge of hyperventilating. But as she realized that struggling was only making things worse she forced herself to calm down and take a deep breath.

_Think Mabel think…you're not going to get out of here if you don't calm down…_

After a moment things began to make a little more sense and she became more aware of her surroundings. The air was cold and damp and the noises surrounding her, now that she had a chance to process it sounded like water dripping from somewhere above and more water rushing down a stream. The sound echoed loudly and in a way that made her come to the conclusion that she was probably in a cave somewhere or maybe even part of the abandoned mines.

For a moment it gave her a brief sense of relief as it would explain the complete darkness around her. _OK, so I'm not blind_,she thought with a shaky sigh, _I hope.._. Sure enough after a few moments in total darkness she could just barely make out a faint light source though she still couldn't tell how far it was, or whether it was night or day and there wasn't enough to make heads or tails of her nearest surroundings but it was one good thing to hold onto when everything else seemed hopeless and terrifying.

_It's not much, but it's something…_

"Waddles?" she called, shivering as a chill settled deep into her bones. She could remember the attack, but she had no idea if her pig was OK and she could feel her pulse quicken at the thought of something horrible happening to him. "Waddles!"

Her voice echoed loudly, bouncing around until it sounded like her own voice could've come from anywhere. Worse still she could've sworn she heard something else in the darkness, but the echoes of her own voice was so disorienting that she wasn't sure.

_OK, maybe that wasn't such a good idea… _she sucked in a breath and listened but all she could hear once the sound of her own voice faded away was the constant and quick _drip, drip, drip_ of water and the rushing stream echoing endlessly around her.

Still she strained to listen for any new sounds in the darkness she was trapped in, any sign of possible rescue or danger. But if that _thing_ that attacked her returned, then what? And that was assuming it wasn't nearby already because in the all-consuming darkness and unreliable acoustics of her prison there was no way to know for sure.

"I gotta get out of here before it gets back," she whispered with a determined grunt as she twisted her wrists and tried to pull herself free. She forced herself to remain calm, even as her heart was pounding madly with terror because even if she got free then what? Where would she go in her dark prison? Even after adjusting to the blackness surrounding her, she still couldn't see a thing and she couldn't exactly rely on her sense of hearing that well either. She didn't know where the exit was, she didn't know what the ground was like, for all she knew she was a step away from a steep drop, especially if she was somewhere in the abandoned mines, plus there could be all sorts of traps…

And then there was the fact that she had no idea what exactly attacked her. The fact she was tied up told her it wasn't just some strange wild creature, but it was at least somewhat sentient and she didn't know what it wanted with her, just that she really didn't want to find out.

Whether or not it was Bigfoot like she and Dipper first guessed she wasn't sure as it didn't look the way she would expect Bigfoot to look. It was like if the vampire from that old silent movie _Nosferatu_ and the classic depictions of Bigfoot merged together, but it moved lightning fast so even when it attacked her she was unable to get a clear look long enough to make out any details, but what she did see would probably forever haunt her dreams.

_If I ever get out of this…_ she thought, biting her lip and blinking hard as she felt the tears building up in her eyes and the reality of how really, truly helpless she was finally hit her.

_No, no, no...I'm going to get away, somehow….If I can't escape on my own, Dipper will find me, I know they're probably looking by now…_

When her thoughts went to Dipper she allowed the tears to fall, and hopelessness started to sink in and settle deep within her. It was a strange and sobering feeling for Mabel, the eternal optimist who was always able to look on the bright side of things, always hopeful even when things seemed dire. But then again she had never felt so trapped and alone before, she always had Dipper but how was he possibly going to find her? _He's going to blame himself…I can't let that happen! I've got to get out of here!_

Both her arms were hurting from being raised the way they were, tingling with numbness, but not enough to alleviate the pain from her wounds. Struggling was only making it worse and she choked out a sob, pausing for a moment.

_No! Work through the pain, Mabel! You can DO this!_ she commanded herself determinedly, _Don't give up now!_

She wiggled her hands until her wrists burned as fiercely as the wound on her arm but she was slowly but surely starting to feel one hand start to come loose. If she could free one hand, she could free the other and once she was free from her bonds _then_ she could focus on finding a way out. _One problem at a time…_

Just when she thought she was about to get one hand free, she got stuck again, the bonds too tight for her hand to go through. _Stupid ropes! Stupid thumbs getting in the way! _ she inwardly whined, _Come on, Mabel, just a little more…_

Suddenly a new noised echoed through her dark prison, mixing in with the loud drops of water and rushing stream. A low growl. It sounded almost human, but not.

Mabel gasped, looking around frantically even though the darkness was so black that she couldn't see anything, and she couldn't tell where it was coming from. But when her eyes drifted to the only light source, still ridiculously faint, she saw it. It was only an outline of the creature, a shadow slightly darker than the blackness around it and two glowing red eyes. Then with the blink of an eye it was gone but before she could process it, she could feel its breath hot on her neck and she let out a startled scream.

Her scream was immediately muffled though when it clamped its hand on her mouth, the other hand pressing against the back of her head to keep her from pulling away. Its hand was large enough to cover most of her face and pressed so hard she could barely breathe.

It let out a growl of warning, and she could have sworn it almost sounded like it spoke to her. Just one word: "Don't." But she had to have been imagining it, right?

After the echoes of her scream died down it released her and she could breathe again. She gasped for air and could feel her pulse quickening and she coiled away as it began to sniff at her, first her neck, then her cheek, her hair and finally the wound on her head, just above her hairline. She felt something sharp touch the wound, reopening the cut and she could feel a fresh trail of warm blood seep down from her forehead to the side of her face and she choked out a sob when she felt it dip rough, callused fingers into the blood and heard the sound of it licking its fingers.

It had almost human-like hands, but with long bony fingers and long, sharp fingernails that were more like claws. She could acutely remember how sharp they were when it attacked her in the woods, slicing through her sweater and into the flesh of her arm and her breath hitched in fear when she felt all five of its claws lightly touch at her face. One of its claws rested on her closed eyelid and she whimpered helplessly as its other hand slid across her back to grasp at her shoulder. She held her breath in fearful anticipation, waiting for the pain to come, fully expecting it to dig its claws in.

But instead the hand on her shoulder slid up her arm until it reached her wrist and then pulled the sleeve of her sweater down until her arm was bare and the wound exposed. Every instinct told Mabel to move, to fight, to get away but if she did the claw resting on her eye would surely dig in and then she _would_ be blinded so she bit at her lip tried to stay as still as possible, barely daring to take a breath.

She could feel it sniff at the wound, and whimpered when the creature licked at the blood. After a moment the creature combed its claws down her face. It didn't press hard enough to break the skin, but it sent a chill down her spine and soon its arm was wrapped around her neck while it ran the other hand up her arm until it was at her wrists and to her surprise it cut away part of her bonds. Her arms burned as circulation suddenly returned and her shoulders twitched from the sudden release of tension. Her wrists were still tied together but they were no longer bound above her head.

But before she could process it all and had a chance to even wonder why it would cut her down the hand wrapped around her neck suddenly slid up to her head, its long fingers combing into her hair as it pulled her head to the side as the other tugged the collar of her sweater down over her shoulder. She felt its breath on her exposed neck and she couldn't help but wiggle in panic as she realized what it was about to do.

_No, no, no! _she inwardly begged, too afraid to find her voice when she knew screaming was only going to make things worse. But when she suddenly felt its teeth sink into the flesh where her neck met her shoulder she couldn't hold it in any longer.

She could _feel_ her blood leaving her and the blackness that consumed her vision flashed white for a second before going black again. Stars flashed white in the darkness and as dizziness started to take over, her eyes rolled back and strange images flashed through her mind.

She saw people, random strangers who looked as terrified as she felt and she could hear their screams mix in with the sound of her own. But the images moved so quickly, too fast to make sense of, especially as the creature sucked greedily at her blood, but they frightened her and filled her with a feeling of dread.

_Is this what it feels like to die?_ She wondered as she felt herself slipping away. Her thoughts went to Dipper, her twin brother, the most important person in the world to her, _He's going to blame himself…I'm so sorry…_

_Dipper…_

_I don't want to die! I can't!_

Her soul screamed into the void between unconsciousness and waking, a desperate plea.

_Don't let me die like _this_!_

_Dipper!_

Her brother's image took form in her mind and she reached out for him as he reached out for her, silently screaming her name, but he was just beyond her grasp.

_Dipper!_

_Help me!_

The monster pulled its teeth from her neck, having had its fill and tossed her aside like a ragdoll. Dipper's visage vanished as she landed harshly on her side with a weak groan. "Dipper…" she whispered shakily, too weak, too drained and too spent to move. Her body trembled as she felt herself falling, falling, falling and she blinked heavily, trying in vain to fight the pull of unconsciousness where oblivion was just as dark as the world around her.

_Help me, Dipper…_

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A/N I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I know, evil cliffie is evil, just please don't hurt me! Um...hey what's that over there? (hides)

Thanks for reading! Please review, good or bad I would love to hear what you think. Plus, reviews feed the muse and lead to quicker updates... (hint, hint) ;-D


	6. Shared Nightmare

A/N Thanks to everyone for your support! Sorry about leaving you guys so long on a cliffhanger! I struggled with this chapter and I'm still not sure about the result, but I hope you like it anyway.

Thanks to my reviewers! I don't know if I can keep up with this thanking people individually for long since the reviews for the last chapter had doubled compared to the last few, which is totally amazing! But anyway…

awesomenesshasar: Yeah, I'm kind of evil when it comes to cliffhangers, though I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, even if the cliffie made you mad. You'll find out what the creature is soon, though not in this chapter… I like your speculations about it though! :-)

Scarlet Scribe: You'll find out what the creature is soon, don't worry the answers will come. Though you might have to be patient because I think this chapter only leaves more questions. I'll tell you this though, it's not a monster I made up, however I've taken creative liberties with the myth and lore.

Anibelli: Thanks for the review! Sorry if I made you cry?

CupcakeCutie135: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far!

Matt: Oh my! Not sure if I should laugh or run and hide… Uh, hope you forgive me?

gravityfalls456: Wow! Thanks so much for such a wonderful review! I'm really flattered you consider this one of the best! I think it's great that you want to write another story! I'll be sure to check it out some time! I'm sorry it took so long to update but I hope this was worth the wait.

Guest (1): Aw thanks for the compliment, I'm glad you find this unique. I fully intend to finish this, don't worry, though updates might be a little sporadic.

Guest (Kayleigh): I'm glad you like it! Passing out is not fun at all. I've only had it happen once, when I got hit hard with the norovirus, something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I don't remember much, but I remember enough to know I don't want to experience that again!

Mabel Pines 3: Thanks! I'm happy to hear this is one of your favorites, and I'm really glad you enjoy "My Sister's Keeper" as well (update should be soon for that one!).

Stella Stargaze: It always makes my day when I learn that someone likes my work enough to check out my other stories, so that's a huge compliment! I'm flattered that you consider me one of the best! That's amazing, thank you so much! Sorry if the feels made you cry though…

Faller: Sorry for the cliffhanger, I can be evil that way muahaha! I'm glad you like it and it's cool that you consider this one of your favorites! Hope you like this next chapter!

GravityFallsMD and wuffelpuff: Thanks for the review guys!

To all my readers/followers and favoriters and any reviewer I may have missed, Thanks so much! Without further ado, here's the next chapter. I hope y'all enjoy!

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**Chapter Six**

_Dipper!_

_Help me!_

_Help me, Dipper…_

"Mabel!" Dipper cried out, opening his eyes to find himself sitting up in his bed, clutching his neck as though it were injured. Gasping for breath he lowered his hand, somewhat surprised to find it wasn't covered in blood like he almost expected. He glanced over at the empty bed beside him and had to bite his quivering lip to keep from crying.

Oh man, the dream—_nightmare _felt so real. Even now that he was awake he could still hear her voice desperately calling his name, crying for help, echoing through his mind. Everything about it gave him chills and he fought the urge to grab his journal, but he had flipped through that book so many times, he knew that what he would've looked for wasn't in there.

After a moment he heard someone at the door and Grunkle Stan let himself in, flipping on the lights, "Dipper? You OK?"

"Yeah," he sniffed, hugging his scraped knees to his chest, "I…I just had a bad dream."

"About Mabel?"

"Yeah."

Stan sighed, looking more tired than Dipper had ever seen him and sat down on the bed beside him, resting his hand on Dipper's shoulder, "Can't say I'm surprised." He hesitated, sighed again and asked, "Care to talk about it?"

He shook his head, "No, I'm fine. It just…it felt so real…like I was there, y'know?"

Dipper closed his eyes, focusing on what he remembered of his dream before the memory slipped away from him as his dreams often did after waking. Already most of it was gone; he could vaguely recollect dreaming of running through the woods, searching, searching, searching, the video evidence… he dreamed he was in the video but he still couldn't see beyond what the camera captured. He was powerless to stop the creature from attacking his twin. As hard as he tried he couldn't move, he couldn't protect her…he could only watch.

But that part of his nightmare was basically a variation of reality, and as his dream memory faded away leaving the real memories behind, he was left with the one part of his nightmare that he couldn't forget. It was so vivid he didn't think he could even if he wanted to and he could feel Stan give his shoulder a squeeze as the thought of it sent a chill to run down his spine.

"It was so…so dark," Dipper murmured, so focused on his nightmare that he was barely aware of speaking out loud, "I couldn't see her, I couldn't see anything. But I could hear her…she was calling to me, begging for help." His eyes stung with unshed tears as he recalled seeing her image appear in the blackness reaching out for him. "I tried to get to her… but no matter of how hard or how fast I ran, she was always just out of my reach…" He subconsciously reached for his neck where it met the shoulder, "she was hurt, and scared and trapped…and there was something behind her…it…it was awful…"

Dipper shivered, recalling the face that appeared in vivid detail, it wasn't like any creature he had ever seen and it was definitely not in his journal. It had looked right at him and smiled this wide, creepy and ravenous grin just before it grabbed hold of Mabel and they both vanished and he was violently shoved back into the waking world. "I can still hear her voice calling for me…we got to find her Grunkle Stan, we have to!"

"We will, kiddo," Stan said, "There's a team out there looking for her right now."

"Have they found anything yet?" Dipper asked.

Stan shook his head, "Just the site of those footprints you found, but the rain has washed away most of the evidence. Last I heard they're bringing in a team of dogs to track her."

"If Waddles couldn't track her, you think they could?"

"I'm sure Waddles did his best but…these dogs, they're trained for it, that's their job so of course they can! Assuming the rain didn't wash away her scent completely…"

Dipper made a hopeless sigh that bordered on a sob.

Stan was at a loss for words so the two of them sat in silence for a moment until Dipper lamented, "I should be out there looking for her. I should be doing something…"

"I hear you kiddo," Stan agreed gruffly, "but right now you need to try and get some rest."

"How? How am I supposed to sleep all safe and comfortable in my bed when Mabel…"

"I know, I know," Stan said, "believe me, I get it. I'm itching to get out there myself but right now my number one priority is keeping you safe, and with a wild animal like that on the loose, it's too dangerous. For now, let's leave this to the police."

"What good are they going to do? They're incompetent morons!" Dipper scoffed, "And what about keeping Mabel safe? Huh?"

"Please kid, don't do this," Stan shook his head, taking off his glasses to pinch at the bridge of his nose, "Had I known that creature was out there, I would've never let you kids go in those woods alone."

"Like you would've even believed me if I tried to tell you about it beforehand," Dipper scowled darkly, "You _still_ don't believe that it could've been Bigfoot or some other horrible supernatural creature when the evidence is right there on my camera. Maybe if you believed me from the get go then…"

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that, I know you're upset and worried and that's affecting your emotions and whatnot, but please don't act like I'm the bad guy," Stan warned, "just because I'm skeptical of what attacked her doesn't change anything. Man if I could….if I could've done anything, _anything_ to have prevented this, if I had known…"

Something in Stan's voice struck a chord, his words echoing Dipper's own inner lamentations of "If only…" and it gave him pause. He gave his Grunkle a sharp look and Stan's eyes met his and the guilt, worry and sadness reflected in Stan's eyes so closely mirrored Dipper's own inner turmoil that all the misplaced anger in his heart melted away into a deep nothingness.

"I know," Dipper said quietly, lowering his head in defeat to look at the floor. He noticed for the first time since waking that Waddles was sleeping on the floor beside the foot of Mabel's bed. He had pulled some of her blankets partially off the bed and was snuggled up in them, his snout pressed against the soft pink fabric. It was such a sad sight that Dipper had to look away.

"Get some rest kid," Stan sighed after a moment, "you need it. I _promise_ first thing in the morning, if they haven't found her by then, you and I will go out and look for her ourselves."

Dipper nodded.

"Like I said, we're not going to stop until she's found, but we need to get some rest right now while the police take this shift," Stan patted him on the back affectionately and rose to his feet, "OK?"

"Sure," Dipper's voice was empty but he looked up and gave his Grunkle a nod. Stand nodded back and left, pausing at the door a moment before shutting off the light and closing the door behind him.

Dipper waited a moment and turned his bedside lamp on. He glanced back at Waddles who was now awake and was staring at him with the saddest look on his face. The pig seemed to sigh and looked up at Mabel's bed. The sight would've broken his heart if it wasn't already broken.

"C'mere Waddles," Dipper murmured, lowering his hand to the floor, reaching out for him. Waddles just stared as though unsure of what to do and Dipper rubbed his fingers together to try and coax the pig to come to him. Waddles turned towards Mabel's bed and sniffed at her blankets and then looked back to Dipper again, "I know, I'm worried about her too."

After a moment Waddles approached him and sniffed at Dipper's hand and when Dipper leaned back and patted his bed, the pig reluctantly jumped up beside him. It was the first time Dipper invited Waddles to sit on his bed, an idea Dipper was normally against because he was a pig, but Waddles tried to save Mabel and was a big help in the search for her. Besides, at the moment, they kind of needed each other and he owed it to Mabel to make sure her beloved pet was well taken care of in her absence. Dipper scratched absently behind his ear and they both looked at the profoundly empty side of the room together.

"I should be out there looking for her right now," Dipper sighed, the images of Mabel's attack on the camera replaying in his head. It gave him the chills, but it also reminded him that Mabel wasn't the only one hurt in the attack. He stopped scratching Waddles' ears and gently felt along his back his legs and sides, relieved to see that there were no visible injuries, because if there were he would've felt like he betrayed Mabel not to have noticed them before, no matter how distracted he might've been. There was a point where Waddles flinched with a low squeal as Dipper felt along his ribcage, "It's OK, you're OK," he soothed, as Waddles tried to wiggle away from him, but when Dipper started to scratch his ears again Waddle calmed down. "I think you're just bruised," Dipper guessed, hoping that was it. He was no expert after all but other than being a little tender, Waddles did seem OK.

As much as Dipper wanted to put on his jacket and sneak out to look for Mabel himself, he decided that Stan did have a point. If it was just the idiot Sherrif Blubs and his even stupider Deputy Durland out there, Dipper would've probably left hours ago to search on his own. But Stan was right about their resources so he tried his best to take comfort in the fact that there were teams of police searching, State police, with dogs. Surely at least some of them were more competent than the two stationed in Gravity Falls.

Still, he was restless and his nightmare, Mabel's terrified image and that horrible face pretty much guaranteed that sleep was out of the question. How could he sleep knowing that Mabel was out there hurt and alone anyway? He might not be able to go out there and search for her himself, at least not now, but there still had to be something he could do to help.

He reached for his journal and flipped through it. He had gone through it so many times since he found it so he knew that he wouldn't find Bigfoot in there, but honestly, Dipper wasn't sure it _was_ Bigfoot they were dealing with, at least, not any more. Maybe it was because he didn't _want_ to believe Bigfoot would do that to Mabel, or anyone. He spent most of his life fantasizing about Bigfoot, imagining a misunderstood friendly giant. Finding out Bigfoot was some vicious monster would be like a little kid discovering Santa wasn't real.

He didn't want to rule out the possibility though, and besides, there was that horrible face that had appeared in his dream, his nightmare that felt all too real. _That_ was definiately not Bigfoot, or at least not how he'd always been depicted in photos and illustrations. But just because it didn't look like one would expect Bigfoot to look, didn't mean it wasn't him but Dipper knew in his gut that the face he saw, whether it was Bigfoot or something else, was the thing that took Mabel.

Sure, maybe he didn't get a good look at the creature, but he saw it for a fleeting moment, and maybe somewhere in his subconscious the details that evaded him before now resided, and his nightmare brought them to light.

He skimmed though his journal a few times, looking up pages that might have answers, even if indirectly, but he couldn't find anything. He sighed in frustration, "Maybe it's because I'm too tired to think," he concluded, but he wasn't ready to go back to sleep, even as the sky slowly turned a lighter shade of grey indicating that morning was soon approaching and there wasn't much time left to get the rest he would need to stay on top of his game to help in the search for his sister.

Giving up with the journal, at least for now, Dipper climbed out of bed and found Mabel's sketchbook on her bedside table. He couldn't get the image of that face out of his mind and so he flipped the paper to a blank page and took one of her pencils, sat back on his bed and began to draw.

Mabel was the artist of the family, not Dipper. But Dipper was pretty decent at drawing. He usually needed something to reference, but at least if he drew a horse, most people would recognize it as a horse. He closed his eyes and focused on the vivid image of his nightmare, memorizing every detail before trying to put it to the page. As he drew, a wild crazy thought crossed his mind.

Only one person that anyone knew of got a good look at the creature. That person was Mabel. What if she somehow, _transmitted_ the image into his mind? It was a silly theory, one that seemed unlikely, even for someone like him who believed in the crazy things that appeared in his journal. But he did hear of strange cases where twins could somehow share a psychic connection, but that was always with identical twins, something they were obviously not. But what if? Maybe in dire circumstances, maybe it _could_ be possible.

Dipper had his doubts. When they were younger they tried once to see if they could read each other's mind if they concentrated really hard, but it never worked, so it was crazy to think it might work now. Still, despite his doubts, they didn't stop him from trying again.

_Wherever you are, Mabel, stay strong OK? Don't be scared. Everyone is looking for you and I'm going to find you. _

_Stay strong._

_Don't be scared._

_I'm going to find you._

_You're going to be OK._

_Please, _Dipper prayed,_ please let her be OK..._

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A/N The plot is going to pick up again soon. Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think!


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